• I attended Boston College and attained a masters there.

• I majored in Curriculum and Instruction.

• In my spare time, I like to work out, read and dance.

• I like all types of music.

• I have traveled to Central America, Europe and Asia.

• My birthday is January 11.

• The sports I have participated in include track, cheerleading and horseback riding.

• My favorite TV show is The Big Bang Theory.

• An interesting fact about me is that I was in a Pepsi commercial when I was 11 years old.

• My favorite part of working in a school is discussing literature.

• My motto is: “To thine own self be true…” from Hamlet.

• My favorite store right now is Buy Buy Baby!

• I attended Ohio University.

• I majored in Secondary Education English/Language Arts.

• In my spare time I grade papers and I spend a lot of my time playing with my baby.

• I like to listen to Indie music.

• I have traveled to Italy.

• My birthday is August 25.

• The sports I have participated in include softball and swim.

• My favorite TV show is Grey’s Anatomy.

• An interesting fact about me is that I have moved seven times in the last eight years, but I have only lived in four different cities in that time frame.

• My favorite parts of working in a school are the relationships I build with my students and how I feel like I make a difference daily.

• My motto is: “Let’s be better people today than we were yesterday.” –Anonymous

“Well it’s a big deal because it’s a traditional event, it’s something that celebrates how they are transforming into a young women, and it is also a proud moment for the parents,” junior Celina Reyes. “Usually the parents plan everything, depending on how strict they are, but they also need to have the approval of the quinceanera.”

Quinces have particularly become largely recognized in the AHS community. A quince, a Latin  American tradition, is the 15th birthday celebration for girls in which they transform from a young girl to a woman in the eyes of the community. Depending on the country, some quinces have more religious significance than others.

“My family followed the actual tradition,” junior Mirian Romero said. “We celebrated a Catholic mass, which is usually when your parents are offering you up to God and whatever is planned in your life is because God wants it that way.”

On the other hand, some people simply have a big party, similar to that of a sweet-sixteen, and celebrate it in a more modern way.

“ Mine wasn’t religious based, it was more of a big party because I had already turned fifteen,” sophomore Geraldine Hoyos. “We just had a party.”

Over time, these events can become quite elaborate, taking on the magnitude of weddings. There is a ceremony, commonly a catholic mass, and a reception afterwards, with an array of songs, dances and meals. Two main dances are performed during the quinces, one which the quinceanera or the girl dances with her father ,and then another in which the girl performs a dance with the court of honor. The court of honor consists of friends or close family of the quinceanera.

Most commonly, the girl wears wedding-like attire and a tiara, which are both given by the parents or family members of the girl. Traditionally, the quinceanera is given a rosary, a bible and the last doll. The last doll has a significant role, in which the parents give the quinceanera the last doll the girl would ever get. Since the girl is changing into a woman, she is getting over the stage of playing with dolls, so the parents, as a final homage to her childhood, give the youthful gift of a final doll.

Another very important traditional ceremony is when the girl is given heels to show how she has changed from a girl to a women. The quinceanera and her father have the first dance together, then the mother and the quinceanera sits on a throne-like chair. From there, the father of the quinceanera changes her shoes, which are usually flats to heels. After the changing of shoes happens, the father and daughter continue their dance together.

The quince is a ceremonial step in a girl’s life where she transforms from a girl to a women in the eyes of the community, holding herself with a newfound sense of modesty and beauty.

“My parents just say I am a young lady who is now accountable for her actions and knows what’s right from wrong,” Romero said.

“The Cappies are like the high school Tony Awards. I can’t believe this is happenening,” Hackfeld said. “We deserve this nomination.”

AHS’s fall production of “Arsenic and Old Lace” had been up for a record 15 number of Cappies critics choice nominations for this year’s competition, putting it on the map as a favorite to be nominated since its performance in the beginning of December. Hackfeld was nominated for both Comic Actress in a Play and Best Ensemble in a Play along with junior Gwen Levey for their portrayal of two sweet, but lunatic aunts in the production.

The Cappies fan base stretches all over the county, as well as in the D.C. and Northern Virginia area. Some of the shows that compete even take place in Maryland and since it’s start in 1999, it has spread all over the U.S. and even to parts of Canada, making it an international event. For high school theater students, it legitimizes everything that they work for when putting on a production and is a highly competitive, prestigious honor to be nominated.

“I am really looking forward to this event,” Hackfeld said. “I am really proud of all of our efforts. I only wish the whole production could have been nominated, but two nominations is amazing in itself.”

The Cappies gala will take place at the Kennedy Center on June 10 at 7 p.m. and Hackfeld and Levey will be going to not only represent the production and the AHS theater department, but the entire school as well. Anyone is welcome to attend the gala, however, and can purchase tickets from theater teacher, George Bennett, in the theater room for $35.

For more information about this year’s nominees, the nomination process, and the Cappies, visit http://www.cappies.com/nca/.

“[An acoustic guitar] is not like a violin,” senior Erik Hoff said. “The strings are different, the sound, and the playing is different. So, translating from acoustic to classical really took time and effort on our part”.

The ensemble performed included “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik” composed by Mozart and “Moonlight” composed by Beethoven. These classical pieces contributed to presenting the elegant persona of an instrument tied more to rock n’ roll and heavy metal. Seniors also performed solos for a chance to receive the $500 dollar scholarship. AHS’s own Mr. Annandale, Jack Deible, performed alongside two other guitarists. Senior Michael Lavelle performed “Green Sleeves,” a famous medieval piece. The scholarship was awarded to Lavelle for his aid in the beginners classes and passion towards music.

“The performance was good, but there were some things that could have been better,” Groshon said. “But I would have said that even if it was perfect”.

“The performance was great,” Kee said.

The victory over the Titans, although celebrated, was quickly looked over as the team refocused its attention to accumulate success in the postseason.

“We need to become more aggressive when batting and eliminate mental errors,” senior captain Casey Fait said.

Despite a seven game losing streak in the middle of the regular season, the overall 10-10 team is determined to play to its strengths.

“We’ve played well defensively and if we can come out and get a few runs early we should be good,” head coach Chris Tippins said. “If our defense is playing and communicating together, we come out on top. If our defense plays well, then our offense plays well.”

The team has not made a regional appearance since the 2009 season and hopes to overcome South County and Lake Braddock, the Atoms top rivals, regardless of regular season losses.

“My goal for the district tournament is to make it to the second round and beat Lake Braddock or South County,” sophomore center fielder Jocelyn Hotter said.

During the regular season, the team encountered injuries, including a concussion to starting senior catcher Alex King, which forced her to miss a few key games, while freshman Kara Hoisington still remains unable to play with her fractured fibula.

“We’ve had such a rough year with losing games, but we still came back to win the games we needed to and held the better teams as well as we could,” Hoisington said.

There are many elements that the Atoms learned during the regular season that they plan on keeping and feel confident will transition well to their post season play.

“I want to keep up the fact that we don’t have very many fielding errors and have [senior] Justine [Niner] keep pitching really well for us,” Fait said.

Niner received second team all-district honors along with junior Anne Marie Frankfurt, King and Fait. Jocelyn Hotter and Jessica Hotter both made first team all-district.

“The team works really well together, which will benefit us and help us to play well in the district tournament,” Jocelyn Hotter said.

“Back then, no one made such a production out of asking people to Prom,” guidance counselor Carrie Schaefer said. “We all just said, ‘do you want to go to prom with me?’ That’s it. No fuss, no pressure.”

This pattern of going all out to invite someone to Prom is more of a recent fad. It was a much more casual process several years ago.

“I asked my date to Prom,” history teacher Kellie Burke said. “He was a friend from another school that I worked with, and I think I did something cool like IM him.”

Not only was the invite to Prom nonchalant and different in the past, but the style of clothing that people wore has changed greatly. The outfits for Prom were much less dressy and underplayed in the past. Dresses that were long, solid-colored, silk and spaghetti strap were the common style among Prom dresses.

There was not as much sequence, textures, cut-outs, lace and bright prints on dresses back then. Today, dresses are usually floor length, standout dresses. Girls also have shoes and a bag that go with the color scheme of their dress.

“I don’t think I spent over $100 on either of my dresses,” Schaefer said. “The fashion for Prom dresses back then wasn’t really crazy, outlandish or extravagant. Most people in my school wore a knee length or tea length dress, not full on gowns like they do now. For the senior ball, I wore a simple black dress. Simple and classy is what most people went for back in the day.”

With a change of style has also come a change of price. Girls going to Prom spend hundreds of dollars on their dress alone. The flashy, attention-grabbing dresses that are the common style for Prom today is not cheap.

“I paid for half of my dress, so I only spent a little over 200 dollars, but the total of the dress was $450,” senior Natalie Ford said.

Perhaps teenagers’ outlook on Prom has changed because of Hollywood movies playing it up, or maybe it is because AHS only has a senior prom; therefore it is more special to the students.

“[Prom] was underwhelming,” Burke said. “I’m glad I went but it certainly was not the highlight of my senior year. I think I enjoyed the getting ready part more.”

Yogurt cream bread is a popular offering.